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M-m-m-m. Energy Pie.
Renewable energy is becoming as American as apple pie, and as any good chef knows, the quality of the finished products depends largely upon the ingredients used.
So, what do Americans want in their energy pie this year? Well, in October, the Nielsen Company did a survey to find out. The results are interesting, partly because things look very different depending on how you slice the pie.
Ingredients
The study grouped a variety of energy sources under the heading, “Renewable and Carbon Neutral Sources.” [Emphasis added]
I don’t know why the phrase “carbon neutral” was included, but it appears to give nuclear power a chance to be included in the pie. Nuclear fuel isn’t renewable, but it also isn’t carbon neutral — unless you ignore carbon emissions that come from mining, transporting, and processing the uranium fuel, and disposing of the radioactive waste (for which there is currently no viable plan — but that’s another story).
Using all the Nielsen study data, here are the results presented in (what else?) a pie chart.
Chart #1
Fine. Looks good. But, as I argued above, I really don’t think nuclear belongs in this pie under a reasonable definition of “carbon neutral.” Here’s what our pie would look like with the radioactive ingredient removed.
Chart #2
Not that much of a difference, given that only 6 percent of respondents said they preferred nuclear power in the first place. Still, the configuration has changed slightly.
